Photo: GEPA pictures/Dutch Photo Agency
The FIA Formula 3 World Cup, currently handed out to the winner of the Macau Grand Prix, will now count towards Formula 1 superlicence points.
Friday’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council approved a proposal that the winner of the World Cup, determined by the results of the main race in Macau, should be granted five points.
Macau’s lack of superlicence eligibility has come under the spotlight this year due to the plight of 2017 GP winner and Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum.
Ticktum was touted as a favourite for a 2019 Toro Rosso drive but lacked the necessary superlicence points, a situation not helped by the fact that his Macau win gave him no points.
Alongside the Toyota Racing Series’ New Zealand Grand Prix, Macau is one of a few races that hold a nation’s grand prix title outside of F1.
The equivalent points gained from World Cup victory for this year are sixth place in GP3, fifth in the two existing regional F3 championships in Asia and America and Indy Lights, fourth in any FIA Formula 4 championship, third in the various Formula Renault 2.0 championships and Pro Mazda and second in the Toyota Racing Series.
The WMSC also decided that the MRF Challenge, won this year by Felipe Drugovich, should be upgraded to ‘International Championship’ status, although this has no implication on its superlicence points allocation.
Changes are expected to be made to the 2019 points allocations though with the replacement of GP3 by FIA International F3 and the radical changes to the third tier of single-seaters in Europe.